Acute Leukemias

Abstract

Though acute leukemia is not a common cancer of the elderly, it is noteworthy because of its relatively sudden onset, short course, and certain fatal termination. Inspection of Fig. 15.1 shows that incidence slowly rises from the fifties to the eighties, the increase being eightfold between the extremes of ages 50 and 85+. In spite of much conjecture about the possible causes of leukemia, only exposure to significant amounts of radiation and a few chemicals, notably benzene compounds, is known to predispose to this disease, though some familial factors may be of importance (Jablon 1975; Infante et al. 1977). Years spent searching for a viral cause have been largely unrewarded, at least for leukemia in humans (Murphy et al. 1965). A frightening paradox is that acute leukemia is not uncommon in people successfully treated for other cancers (Greenspan and Tung 1974).